Martina Hrabová: František Sammer - architect of bold visions

The autumn series of lectures and discussions organized by the association Pěstuj prostor focuses on architecture and urbanism between 1948 and 1989, with an emphasis on events in Plzeň. During the second part of the cycle, the Prague art and architecture historian Martina Hrabová will present the exceptional personality and work of the architect and Plzeň native František Sammer (1907–1973). The lecture will take place on November 16 at 18:00 in the building of 20. Elementary School on Brojova Street in Plzeň's Slovany district.
František Sammer's skills and practice were shaped by the environment of Le Corbusier's studio in Paris. Sammer was among the closest collaborators of the famous architect in the early 1930s. He later worked in the former Soviet Union, Japan, and India, from where he was drafted into the British Army in 1942. In his home environment, Sammer was long known primarily as the architect of the first realizations in the style of socialist realism, the so-called Superblock in the Slovany housing estate in Plzeň.
The lecture will focus on the international context of Sammer's professional career and the foundations of his work in order to place his post-war activities in Plzeň into broader contexts. It will attempt to connect the seemingly separate chapters of the architect's adventurous life.
The admission fee for the event is 50 CZK. Tickets will be available on-site and in advance at www.plzenskavstupenka.cz.